Plans that exclude the president's "core" benefits may be exactly what is desired for those in good health with the means to cover their limited every-day and predictable medical expenses....
Just as it would be a bad idea to require that all cars come with power windows, power locks, and automatic transmissions, it is also unwise to order citizens to buy health care that includes maternity benefits or other care.
Some may have no intention of having children.
Others may not want to devote the time required to take advantage of the preventive care that is covered.
Still others may be skeptical of the effectiveness of mental health care....
The fact that a health care plan does not include all the benefits of other plans does not imply that it is "substandard." Instead, the [Affordable Care Act] replaces plans that cater to needs of a particular consumer with those cluttered with bells and whistles that may be of little value.
Lazear also notes that generous coverage contributes to health care inflation by encouraging over consumption: When someone else is picking up the tab, consumers do not worry much about the price. In fact, because the health care market is dominated by third-party payments, patients typically do not even know the price before they decide whether to "purchase" a particular medical service. The other day The New York Times published an op-ed piece in which Peter Ubel, a professor of medicine at Duke University, proposed a radical idea: What if doctors deigned to tell patients, before asking them to approve a procedure or course of treatment, how much it will cost them? Ubel argues that doctors should "discuss out-of-pocket costs with patients just as they discuss any side effects."
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